The ELEAGUE has included some incredible matches and plays to date, and it only looks to get better. There’s a lot at stake here, with the winning team walking away with a half million dollars in cold cash. There’s the prestige, too, of course, but we think that half a million dollars in itself could be called quite motivational. The second place comes with one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, while the remaining Semifinalists will earn seventy thousand. The other Champion teams will each get thirty thousand dollars. Here are the predictions for the Quarterfinals of the ELEAGUE. There are a lot of interesting combinations, and one or two of them are sure wins.

FaZe Clan Vs mousesports – an epic confrontation

This is the best pairing in the Quarterfinals, not only because it is a sure win for FaZe, but because mousesports nearly won against FaZe Clan in the ECS. That fact makes this match a bit of a challenge for FaZe, but unlike at the ECS, FaZe are playing in excellent form since entering the Legends stage of this event, and mousesports are likely to go down before them.

These teams have fought each other four times

They first encountered each other at DreamHack Masters last year. It was a best of one match, and FaZe Clan won quite easily in Mirage with a difference of seven rounds. Another three matches were played at the ECS Finals last year, in a best of three series. Mousesports started our well by winning in Nuke by two rounds. The next match, Inferno, was dragged into overtime two times, with Faze ultimately winning the match. The final match, once again in Mirage, was again dragged into overtime before FaZe could win it. FaZe clearly have the upper hand in Mirage, though.

These teams have played one hundred and thirty one rounds against each other, and FaZe won fifty four percent of those. This is an unreliable pairing, with a fifty percent probability of matches going into overtime. FaZe have done much better than mousesports at this event, losing just one match. Mousesports haven’t done too badly, winning six out of ten matches played. But they did lose to Space Soldiers and Quantum Bellator Fire. Overall, FaZe are doing much better than mousesports, and cannot afford to lose – or throw – this match. And FaZe tend to win matches they cannot afford to lose. This is certainly a sure win for FaZe Clan.

The Quarterfinals – Natus Vincere Vs Quantum Bellator Fire

In a surprising turn of events at the ELEAGUE, Quantum Bellator Fire performed as well as any other team, and qualified for the Quarterfinals. Nevertheless, a best of three against Natus Vincere could well go against them. These teams have already encountered each other in the new Challengers stage, and there Natus Vincere decimated QBF in Inferno. QBF now know that they have to ban Inferno for sure, but it is, after all, a best of three, and they won’t be able to ban three maps. Each team will first ban a map, then pick one, and then ban again, with the remaining map becoming the third map played.

Image Credit: Natus Vincere

QBF will surely ban Overpass, since they have no experience playing the map. This means that Natus Vincere can easily ban Nuke or Train, which are QBF’s best maps. If QBF are clever with their picks and bans, though, they could still turn the game around in the second phase of banning. Natus Vincere have not played Cache since electronic joined them. Of course, QBF are weak in Cache, but they do not have to ban it as Natus Vincere may ban it for them. If they take this risk, they have some small chance of survival, but really, with the odds running at 1.18 on Natus Vincere, this Quarterfinals match is already in Natus Vincere’s hands.

The Quarterfinals – G2 Esports Vs Cloud9

We saw these teams battling each other in the Legends stage, and G2 Esports won by eight rounds in Cache. The performances put out by G2 Esports at the ELEAGUE have been amazing, and they are the only team that have won all their matches since the start of the event.

G2 and Cloud9 faced each other last year at the CS:GO Premier, in a best of three series. Cloud9 won the best of three by winning the first two matches. The first map was Cobblestone, where G2 Esports lost by four rounds. In the second map, which was Inferno, Cloud9 crushed G2 by eight rounds.

G2 haven’t had a good history of going up against Cloud9, in other words

On the other hand, G2 have been doing exceptionally well here at the ELEAGUE, and Cloud9 have been putting out fairly dismal performances. Nevertheless, Cloud9 have too good a record against G2 Esports, and while this match is not a sure win, Cloud9 are still likely to put G2 down here.

SK Gaming Vs Fnatic – A Sure Win

The only reason Fnatic advanced to the new Champions Stage was because Astralis’ dev1ce is considerably off his game. Well, he’s just recovered from a serious illness, and Astralis tried some new strategies to compensate for that, but failed. If we know Astralis, they will work at this and be back, stronger and better than before.

However, Astralis’ bad fortune has worked in SK Gaming’s favor, giving them the chance of an easy win against a demoralized and badly-playing Fnatic in the Quarterfinals. Fnatic have made a poor showing of themselves in LAN matches recently, and are not at all qualified to go up against SK Gaming in these Quarterfinals of the ELEAGUE.

Fnatic also have the weakest map pool of all the eight teams in the Quarterfinals. They never play Nuke, and are extremely poor in Overpass and Cache. SK Gaming have a very good opportunity here for an easy move into the Semifinals, with the odds on them running at 1.37.

These are the most carefully formulated match predictions, by analysts who thoroughly study team histories and playing styles. Stay tuned for more match-by-match analyses and predictions for this event. Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter and Facebook for the latest on your favourite Esports titles.